After reading The Machine Stops, the first thought that popped up in my mind was that E.M. Forster is such a great fortune teller, for everything he imagined back a century ago corresponds with what is happening currently. The Machine represents the prevailing internet in modern days. Generally, it seems that the whole story was written in an ironic tone. People bank too much on the Machine that they cannot feed themselves without all these buttons and mechanisms. At the very beginning of the story, Vashti was sitting in her armchair, with a great bunch of buttons around her. With a press, she could get everything she wanted, just as what we do today with our smartphones and the Internet.
Throughout the story, one scene that hits my nerve the most is when Vashti was talking with her son through the plate. Kuno, her son said, “I want to see you not through the machine.” This scene reminds me of those chatting application nowadays. With the help of internet, we can see whoever we want through videochat. Then we forget the true essence of getting along with other individuals face to face-emotion, which can hardly be felt through the screen. The internet, or the Machine, is indeed convenient. The only thing that matters in current society is that we use this tool “humanly”. Just as mentioned in the text, “man is the measure”. We should feel this world by ourselves, with the help of the Internet, rather than feel this world through it.